My little clamps that convert a ruler into a shaft rule came out yesterday so I could scribe a register line along the receiver to ensure I keep things in line. It had to be a continuous line because the tube will be cut down to fit once I have the centres worked out.

I wanted to make sure the pilot hole for the drilling in the plus was vertical and centred. Couldn't think of an easier way to do it than this. Looks risky but it isn't with a bit of care. The pressure of the drill holds the plug in the vee groove. This is where a grab would be serious so back the drill off!

The plugs drilled to tapping size.

Close of play. All the plugs are threaded 1/2" brass thread. Went into the treasure chest and found a piece of 5/8" brass for the connectors. Mick was admiring the depth of the TC the other day. It's down to years of collecting and building stocks. Looks excessive at the time but when you get to be a poverty stricken pensioner it is a life saver. Never walk past anything!
I have the method for finding the centres and surmounting the inevitable slight misalignments in my head. It will either be dead easy or (God forbid) a nightmare..... There is also the question of the drain for the receiver.....

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Steadily away. The connectors between the plug ends of the receiver and the stubs on the cylinder ports are made and ready for fitting once the receiver pipe has been cut to the correct length. Both sets brought to this stage.

The receivers are going to need a drain to cope with carry over of condensate, oil etc. I went mad and spent money on two 1/8"BSP valves..... Now I have to work out how to fit them in the centre of the receiver pipe after it has been cut to length. I'm puzzling about tapping sizes, they don't appear to have BSP threads into the unions, could be 26TPI. I'm on the case!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Started the day by cutting the receiver pipes back to the correct length and temporarily fitting them to both engines.

Then I made a mandrel that was a close fit in the receiver pipe to support it when I grip it to work on it.

I did a trial on one of the offcuts from the receiver to see whether 26tpi was the right thread. It isn't exactly right but this is an advantage because it means that the slight interference makes the connection tighter in the thin wall of the pipe. Remember that the optimum grip of a thread is at the same depth as the diameter and this is nowhere near.

Then I had to go into the treasures again to find some copper pipe that will fit the union on the drain cock.

This was to be close of play, two lengths of 1/8" bore copper pipe cut and fitted to the unions.

The pipes are going to need soldering so I had to go to B&D to get some gas. Here we are ready for soldering and I am dreading it. I am possibly the worst man with solder in the world so today will be stressful!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

My soldering went better than expected. Quietly away with no rush and at close of play this engine has finished receiver and I have to admit I was tempted to put air on it but resisted. Today I'll get the other engine to the same stage. My mind is on steam pipes and junction valves.......

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Close of play yesterday. Both engines have all their essential pipework finished and note that they have steam pipes as well. Yes, that means that if I wanted to I could connect them up to the compressor and see if I have got it right! However, I'm doing some controlled displacement activity. I am not going to run them till they have flywheels and in order to fit them I have to mount the engines on their plinths to get clearance for the wheel. So I shall be looking at lumps of wood today...... On the quiet I think I am afraid I have got them wrong and they won't run..... I am a cowardly Bum Fitter!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Hi Stanley , I like the new pipework copper and brass together always looks classic and classy at the same time. I hope that the wood plinths wont cause you any problems to solve but I am sure you will overcome them if there are any.
I have got a bit more done to the lathe in between allsorts of distractions. I have been altering the rear splash guard as there was a gap left between what the chuck guard would cover and the splash guard, which left cutting oil splashed up the wall, so decided to extend it. I bent a bit of matching plate around a tube , cut a vee out if it for the kink then bent the straight half over the edge of the bench and ended up with this .

Ended up with this , not bad for first fit but a bit tall so will cut it down and trim it around with some stainless steel tube I had lying around.

This is the first bit of tube , I used plumbers pipe bender to get the radius , I tacked this bit on then cut off to size with a really thin blade in an angle grinder.

I then pieced the other small bits of tube in to the gaps and welded and ground the joints. I have also seam welded the join between old and new parts and ground flush.

With the lamp in its new position and the chuck guard re fitted all looks good and quite original too.

This is shot of the rear of the splash guard that I forgot to post, the tack welds that hold the tubing on are not too pretty fro the rear but will never been seen anyway.
Next job is the make a mounting to be able to attach the inverter unit and also the die cast alloy box that will house all the electrics and switch gear for the lathe motor , lo-volt light suds pump etc. I am mounting it vertical behind the head stock.

This is the angle iron bracket that the electric box mounting frame will attach to, its bolted into the holes I tapped into the head stock casing.

This photo gives an idea of the size and location of the plate. I have placed the gear levers etc loosly in position to make sure nothing is in the way of anything else.

I am making all this stuff out of what I have rather than what would be ideal so its a bit over the top really but at least it wont fail in used ! The alloy plate is 5mm thick , the square bit is about an inch bigger each way than needed but will do at this size as nice square cut edges on it. The narrower bit I will use as a shelf to go along the top , this needs to be there to stop debris going into the inverter vents anyway so might as well make some use of it, I will edge it with a little alloy angle.

This is the angle iron frame the alloy will attach to ready to be welded.

The frame welded up and clamped into position , I might bolt it to the angle iron that is already bolted to the head stock or might weld these two bits together. still deciding if one way is better than the other.

Very tidy and nobody could accuse you of under-building! I went the opposite way and took the swarf guard off the lathe because it took up so much room. My oil splashes up the wall and the window! But then I'm a bum fitter!

First job yesterday was a good clean up. The brass was harvested and put in the special bin. Best not to leave non-ferocious swarf on the lathe as it reacts with the steel and you get black marks on the slides if there is any moisture about. And yes, I did notice when I put the pic up that I'd missed the dust on the chuck and the feed screw. I've just been into the shed and brushed them off.

I got the drop saw out and the router and made some muck in the back yard. Luckily it was fine! I hate router dust especially, it gets everywhere, even had to brush Jack! He was covered with it. In case you're wondering, I've made plinths for the big compound and the steam hammer as well. Today I'll sand them and then give them a coat of oil. No point varnishing, Keruing is full of resin and it keeps coming out for years so a bit of oil to bring out the colour is fine. I got these out of one plank so plenty left for backing the engine name plates which ar next on my little list.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Both of the marine engines got their plinths. Note the cut-out at the LP end to accommodate the flywheel. Yes, I had to get the router out again!

Out came the 4 jaw and we've gone back to castings. Get it roughly central and use the biggest round nose carbide tipped tool you can get in the tool post!

50rpm, 50 thou cut and a reasonable feed. Make some muck!

Close of play. I'll do both sides of both castings before changing to the 3 jawSC for the last cuts. I gave Newton a good laugh by vacuuming up. I know exactly what I am doing today, making more muck.
Tip, first cut on a casting should be a good one to get under the skin which is hard and full of sand. Don't pussy foot about!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Bodge, the dark one is Fischer Alsatian beer and the tall one is Casolare cold pressed virgin olive oil bottle.
Pluggy, not yet, see today's post.

I've taken all the metal off I can get at in the 4 jaw. I have an accurate boss on the back side that I can hold with the 3 jaw SC so I gave Newton a good laugh by cleaning up before I put the 3 jaw on. Today's job is to reduce the rim to 4 1/4" OD and bore the boss for a tight fit on the shaft. There's a big problem with fitting miniature flywheels to shafts. I have never managed to get one on and fitted dead accurately. The problem is that in full size practice normal accuracy is good enough to get a good result but with say !2 scale, your accuracy has to be 12 times better than full size to get the wheel running true. Many years ago Newton was bemoaning the fact that when he was pressing driving wheels on axles on his loco he could never get the angle of the crank exactly right because the wheel tended to drift slightly as you pressed it on. It was simply a matter of luck if you got it right. I introduced him to modern aerobic glues like Shaftlock but he was sceptical so we bored a disc, popped it on a shaft and tested the grip. He was converted and never looked back. I shall do the same with these flywheels. I have a 1/64" series of drills so I'll drill one or two test discs till I find exactly the right drill and go forward! One tip with Shaftlock, you don't want the bores too tight or too smooth. Leave room for the glue and a bit of roughness and metal dust actually improves the grip. I've never fitted flywheels like this before but it will be OK.

This is the outboard face of the wheel and I decided they would look better if the recess was painted black but I wanted to make sure it was dry for today's work.

So I painted them and popped them on the top of the stove. They have baked all night and the paint is rock hard. We're ready for some finishing touches......

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

We started the day by making a plug gauge exactly the same size as the engine shafts. Two things that struck me; I was working well when I made the shafts because they are both the same size! The second thing is that I tried drilling a test piece and found that none of my drills gave exactly the right bore so I shall have to drill 1/2" and then bore the last fraction out of it. The plug gauge will be ideal for this. A little tip here for the beginners. If you set your top slide at 5.75 degrees, a one thou alteration on the slide gives a tenth of a thou on the cut. Very handy when you're looking for a size as delicate as I will be when adjusting the bore. It also means that the tail of the cross slide passes more easily up the side of the tail stock, very handy and why most 'proper turners' always have their top slide set to 5.75.

Once I was set up it was just a matter of patient muck-shifting. The casting is running dead accurate and this means that when the rim is finished, assuming you have an accurate 3 jaw, when you grip the wheel in the outside jaws any boring will be dead concentric with the rim, just what we are after. My target was 4 1/2" diameter but I had to go down a bit further with the first casting as I hit a small blow hole on the final cut. It finished up nearer to 4 1/4" but no problem.

Close of play. A nice clean lathe and we are ready for boring and reducing the boss so it will clear the engine bed. I'd left it oversize so I had a better grip while cutting the rim. I gave the wheels another coat of paint and a baking on the stove. Nice black finish now, should I pull the engine to bits and repaint the rest of it? FORGET IT!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Some careful boring and finishing cuts to make sure everything is concentric and then out with the Shaftlock!

Two finished engines. Couldn't resist it, took one in the shed and connected it to the compressor. Plenty of power there! It could easily break your finger but valves not quite right so today is valve-tuning.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Red letter day. I have declared the engines finished. Not exhibition standard and I couldn't run them properly because my little compressor isn't up to the job but both are runners, very powerful and would be frightening if they had 100psi on them. That was the aim, take the rough metal and breathe life into them. Daughter Susan is going to give one a home and I'll have to find a spot for the other.
What next? I think the first job is to clean up three sets of engine name plates and mount them on boards, I love brass name plates! When I was doing Ellenroad the original plates were missing. After a bit of digging I found where they were but didn't want to cause any bad blood by reclaiming them. I settled for rubbings of the worn originals and had patterns made at Keighley. Geoff Smith at Pitt Street was giving me good deals on castings at the time so got four sets made and cleaned one set up for use on the engine. The spare plates have sat in the shed for over 25 years. Time I did something about them!
The funny thing is that I have mild post natal depression! Not surprising, they have filled my mornings for over 18 months. Never mind, I'll soon get over it and think of something else. I have a fancy to make a simple clock, new territory for me, that could be a laugh! It goes without saying that the shed has been cleaned up and everything put away in its proper place.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

After a shed-less day I have to admit that it's quite nice not to be driven to finish the engines. This doesn't mean I regret starting them, I have really enjoyed it but you get to the point where it becomes a project. That's why I shelved making the junction valves for them. I can always make them later if I feel the urge. The object of the exercise was to make two engines that will go if you put steam on them and they certainly do that! To be honest, they would be quite frightening running light on 100psi! So, I'm drawing breath and when I feel the urge I'll get my engine name plates sorted out and mounted. For the time being, a bit of a reat!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but, it's a start. Has anyone got any 5 or 6 inch flue liner laying around, cluttering up their shed, they want rid of? I'm after about 8ft or longer. Cheers

Bodge, yes but Newton would be at home in almost any workshop. B&P didn't have a surface grinder though, I doubt if Newt would have bothered with one.
Kev. Sorry, nothing like that about. You might have to buy a length from a stove-fitter! It's so expensive they measure very carefully before cutting off the roll.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Stanley wrote:Bodge, yes but Newton would be at home in almost any workshop. B&P didn't have a surface grinder though, I doubt if Newt would have bothered with one.
Kev. Sorry, nothing like that about. You might have to buy a length from a stove-fitter! It's so expensive they measure very carefully before cutting off the roll.

Found some on ebay at £15 a metre + delivery. As I'm buying new I'll line it all the way up.

Don't forget the Vermiculite infill between the flue and the liner! Deadly said that it was essential when he installed mine. Are you getting stainless steel? Again, Deadly said it was well worth the extra cost.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Stanley wrote:Don't forget the Vermiculite infill between the flue and the liner! Deadly said that it was essential when he installed mine. Are you getting stainless steel? Again, Deadly said it was well worth the extra cost.

It is a stainless steel liner but I won't be using the vermiculite, far too much mess for my liking...

Stanley wrote:Don't forget the Vermiculite infill between the flue and the liner! Deadly said that it was essential when he installed mine. Are you getting stainless steel? Again, Deadly said it was well worth the extra cost.

It is a stainless steel liner but I won't be using the vermiculite, far too much mess for my liking...

Exploratory work above the register plate has identifed a lot of loose pointing, directly under the source of the smell of smoke. May not need the liner, will do a bit of pointing and see if that resolves the issue before going any further.